VIDALIA — Vidalia High School principal Rick Brown is focused on the Vidalia staff in his search for a new girls’ basketball coach, he said.

Brown said his goal is to find someone on staff that is capable and willing to coach the Lady Vikings hoopsters.

“It’s just a matter of me trying to find somebody on staff who’s qualified and wants to do it,” Brown said.

Brown said the search for a coach is in its early stages.

“I’ve just made some inquiries, I haven’t really started talking to people,” he said. “We have a number of staff people that are interested, but we’re in preliminary talks.”

Brown said finding a coach that is already on staff at Vidalia is easier, and the new coach will already be familiar with the players and what they can do.

“We have a good many qualified (people), it is just a matter of if they want to do it with the teaching load, because they have to hold up their teaching load,” Brown said.

Brown said the staff is primarily focused on preparing academically for fall right now, but he has spoken with a few interested candidates during the last two months.

Brown said he hopes to name the new coach before school starts. He is looking for a coach that knows the game and is willing to put in the time.

“We want someone that is knowledgeable and has interest in doing it, because it takes a lot of time,” he said.

Brown said he is also looking for stability in the girls’ basketball program.

“It just needs somebody that will stay for a few years,” he said. “We have a young group. We only lost one senior last year, and have a good nucleus.

“We just want someone who will be there for a number of years, show interest and work with them, because it has been a revolving door the last couple of years. We’ve had one after another the last few years, and we’re trying to work it to where maybe we will have a little more stability.”

Brown said it is his responsibility to find the right fit, and recommend that person to the school board.

He said he is currently only focused on hiring a new coach internally, and he does not have a plan in place yet if no qualified member of the Vidalia staff is interested.

“I hadn’t thought that far. I am very hopeful that someone will step up and take it,” he said.

The new coach will be replacing former coach Damus Smith, who recently accepted a job to work at Cathedral School, Brown said.